Pink Parasite
by 88mph
Summary: During the Genin test Sakura awakens a blood limit that could make her more hated than the Uchiha's copying ability. As her hopes and dreams for the future shatter, she finds support in an unlikely knuckle-headed teammate. She has to hide the truth even as the village scrutinizes the newest additions to the notorious legacy of Team 7. Oh and she discovers the joy of ramen.
1. Chapter 1

(A.N. I've recently read some 'unique power ups' type fics. They were very entertaining. I had an idea for this one and it wouldn't leave me. So I had to write it down to get it out of my head. It's very light and uncomplicated. Hope you like it.)

**Pink Parasite**

Sakura came out of the genjutsu Kakashi had placed on her for their survival test. She was shaking from fright at seeing Sasuke injured so badly. Her inner cursed her sensei for frightening her. Feeling worry nag at her, she went looking for her crush. She could hear Naruto off somewhere on the training grounds but ignored the idiot.

Somewhat frantic she finally found Sasuke buried in the ground. "Oh my god! Sasuke-kun! He beheaded you!"

Before she could faint Sasuke grumbled at her, "He buried me, idiot."

"O-oh!" Sakura got a hold of herself. "Don't worry, Sasuke-kun I'll get you out of there." _And then he will be so awed by my help that he will ask me to go on a date, and then be his steady girlfriend, and then marriage and then…"_Kya!" She didn't notice Sasuke cringing at her squeal of delight. She put her hands under his arms and tugged with all her strength. There was a sudden warm rush through her hands, but she put it out of her mind. Sasuke groaned in pain and his head lolled to the side.

Alarmed, Sakura set him on the ground. "Sasuke-kun, what's wrong?" The boy's eyes focused on her weakly and he mumbled something Sakura couldn't understand. She grabbed a hold of his face to keep it steady and that's when she noticed it. Sasuke's skin was becoming pale where her fingers were touching him. She felt warmth rush through her hands again as Sasuke's eyes began rolling and foam started forming out of his lips. She screamed and pulled away from him just as he passed out.

She stared at her hands in confusion and fright. Off in the distance the alarm bell rang. Kakashi appeared in a flurry of leaves next to her. He hummed at the sight and Sakura blanched in fear. "Looks like Sasuke learned why you shouldn't miss the most important meal of the day, ne?" He smiled at her from under his face mask. Sakura laughed nervously and thanked her lucky stars Kakashi didn't ask her what had happened.

(Break)

After Kakashi put them through the emotional roller coaster of failing and then passing their team Sakura had no energy to beg Sasuke for a date. Now that she was by herself she was thinking on what had happened with Sasuke. She touched her palms and brought them up close to her face so she could figure out the mystery. She _had_ felt warmth and she realized that she hadn't felt very hungry or tired when Kakashi was berating them after the test.

Sakura knew her limits well. Whenever they played survival games at the Academy she had to pace herself. Usually she was wiped out at the end of them. Kakashi's test had been hard on even though she hadn't done much. The hiding, sneaking around, the affects of the genjutsu had all taken a toll on her. That is, until that warmth.

She was so preoccupied that she didn't quite realize she was home and standing in the entrance foyer still staring at her hands. "Sakura-chan? Is something wrong with your hands?" her father interrupted her thoughts. Sakura's startled green eyes took in the unexpected sight of her father. The man was of slight build with pink hair as bright as hers. He was smiling at her but his eyes were very intent. Sakura quickly hid her hands behind her back.

"No, Dad, everything's ok," she smiled weakly.

Before her father could say something her mother came out of the kitchen. "Did she hurt her hands at the test?"

"She was just about to tell us what happened at the test," her father said and frowned at Sakura.

Sakura was a little taken aback by the look on her dad's face. In their family her mother was the one who disciplined, her father was always laid back and playful. That is, when he could be around and wasn't on missions. She found it hard to lie when he was frowning at her. "Something weird happened when I tried to help Sasuke-kun today."

Her father nodded and stepped back to take a seat at the dining table. He waved his hand, gesturing both the Haruno ladies to sit down. "Go on, Sakura."

"Kakashi-sensei used an earth style technique to bury Sasuke-kun." Sakura felt her mouth dry and swallowed. "When I touched his skin my hands felt warm…and he…" Her mother pushed a glass of water to her. Sakura raised her eyes to thank her mother but quietly drank when she saw both parents frowning. "I'm just being stupid, it was nothing."

"Finish your report, Sakura," her father said firmly.

"Kisuke-" her mother tried to protest but her father raised a hand to stall her. Again Sakura was stunned by her father's manner. He was never so short and serious.

"What happened to Sasuke when you touched him?" he prompted.

"He started moaning in p-pain," she stuttered. "His skin got pale and he…he fainted."

Her mother gasped. "Did anyone see this, Sakura? Did you report it?"

"No," Sakura blurted quickly, alarmed by the urgency in her mother's voice. "Kakashi-sensei thought he fainted because he hadn't had breakfast."

Her mother breathed a sigh of relief and used a dish towel in her hands to wipe her brow. "Kisuke, is it…"

Her father's expression was closed off. At length he asked, "Was the test today hard? Did you get tired?"

Sakura nodded in answer. "But at the end I didn't feel too bad. I wasn't even that hungry." Her parents exchanged a glance at her answer. Sakura couldn't take it anymore, "Mom, Dad, what's going on?"

"Sakura-chan, give me your hand," her father said with a smile. Slowly Sakura put her small hand in her father's large palm. As soon as she touched it she felt warmth rush in her but along with it came a flickering image of her father doing hand seals. Before she could figure out what was happening her father pulled his hand back sharply. His hand shook a little and he put in on the table palm up. A small white imprint of Sakura's hand was on it. In seconds the imprint faded.

Sakura's mother looked at her husband's hand and murmured, "No."

"What? What is it?" Sakura looked between her parents in worry.

Her mother blanked her expression and stood up. "Sakura-chan, go down to the basement and set chairs for us."

"But, Mom-"

"Go, Sakura!" her mother snapped.

(break)

Sakura was in the musty basement and grumbling at the unfairness of it all. She had taken off the tarp covering stored furniture to get at chairs. Now she was sitting on one of them, waiting for her parents. In a few minutes they walked down with her mother carrying a tea set. Sakura hurriedly pulled a small table and set in between the chairs for the tea.

Her mother took her time getting the tea ready, much to Sakura's ire. She did notice that her mother was looking far more composed now. Her father seemed to be lost in thought and for some reason had a blanket sitting on his lap. Once the teacups were handed out, her father spoke, "I have sealed off the basement so we can speak without being spied upon. You have awoken a blood limit, Sakura-chan."

Sakura took a moment to process that. "But we don't have a blood limit, Dad."

"We do have one. It shows up rarely. In fact, to my knowledge it has been three generations since the last one in our family developed it."

"Oh, so we're a clan? What's our blood limit called?" Sakura asked excitedly.

"We were _once_ a clan," her mother interjected. "Now we're small families, spread over Fire Country, loosely linked." Sakura picked up on the anger in her mother's tone and decided to not ask any more questions. It looked like her parents were going to explain things anyway.

"You absorbed life force through your skin today," her father explained.

"I didn't know our family could take chakra from others. I've heard of that blood limit, doesn't someone in our village have it?" Sakura said.

"Ours is a little different, Sakura-chan. You didn't only take chakra, you took knowledge and abilities as well. This is a blood limit can that even steal _other_ blood limits." Her father looked at her somberly. "If you had held on to the Uchiha long enough you could've killed him."

"No, I would never do that!" Sakura shouted.

"You can't control it!" her mother snapped back. Sakura was cowed by her mother's temper as per usual.

"Sakura-chan," her father said gently. "This ability is very dangerous. Long ago before the age of shinobi villages it made us enemies of everyone around us. We were hated, feared, and killed. It's like how people reviled the Uchiha."

"B-but, no one hates Sasuke…" Sakura whispered.

Her mother shook her head and laughed ruefully. "You don't remember what it was like when the Uchiha were around. With the Sharingan they could copy any technique. Think about how their comrades in the village felt," she said, pausing to let the idea sink. "Imagine you spend months, maybe years, learning a technique and some Uchiha sees you performing it. Within seconds he bypasses all the hard work you've put in and knows your technique."

"That's just jealousy, Sasuke-kun would never steal from a comrade," Sakura defended loyally.

"This isn't about Sasuke, your mother is trying to make you understand the situation. Pay attention!" her father nearly growled at her. "Jealous or not, right or wrong, it doesn't change the truth. No one likes someone else copying their techniques without permission or hard work."

"But," her mother interjected after putting a hand on her father's hand to stop his rant. "Our blood limit is worse than even that, Sakura. The Sharingan can copy a technique without harming you. You weaken them when you consume their life force, their knowledge, and their abilities. This is why I asked if someone had seen you use it. We don't want anyone to think you're a threat to your teammates."

Something cold had settled in the pit of Sakura's stomach. She could hardly think, let alone understand all she was being told. She had _stolen_ from Sasuke…she could've _killed_ him. He would hate her now. Her head snapped up. "There has to be a way to control it, every bloodline is controlled in some way."

Her father's face softened and he looked at her sadly. "I'm sorry, Sakura-chan. Most of our knowledge was destroyed when we decided to dissolve the clan. Too many of our leaders had experimented on the ones with this blood limit. They made them do terrible things."

Her mother nodded. "The truth is our clan was destroyed from the inside. This blood limit is so powerful that anyone who developed it was seen as a short cut to greater power for the clan. And the leaders wanted more weapons, so they tried all sorts of awful things to make others in the clan develop them."

"Before the time of villages the clan went to war with each other. Most didn't want their children to be experimented on. When we broke apart, by mutual agreement we destroyed all research and knowledge gained from those experiments. So that if another one of us became hungry for power they wouldn't know how to abuse us," her father finished.

Sakura shook her head with tears running freely down her face. "So there's no way to stop this? I can't touch anyone?"

"No," her father said. "I'm sorry. And you cannot tell anyone, you must hide this. I don't want our village to use you. The example of the Uchiha is before us. They will use you and discard you."

Sakura hung her head and began sobbing. After a moment she felt a blanket settle on her. Her father picked her up and cradled her. The blanket made sure that none of her exposed skin touched him.

Sakura wept pitifully. She couldn't even hug her parents anymore. The last thing she remembered before falling asleep from emotional exhaustion was her mother singing her a lullaby as her father rocked her.

(Break)

The next morning a big breakfast was waiting for Sakura. She grabbed orange juice and pecked at the eggs morosely. Her mother shot her disapproving glances for her eating habits, which Sakura had learned to ignore long ago.

"Your father wanted me to ask you a question. Do you know if the Uchiha has awakened his sharingan?" her mother asked while taking a seat next to her at the table. "Do you feel anything if you focus chakra to your eyes?"

Sakura made a hand seal to aid in concentration and sent chakra to her eyes. Her mother looked at her intently and after a few moments Sakura let her focus go. "Did anything happen? I've never seen Sasuke-kun use it."

"No, nothing." Her mother breathed a sigh of relief. "Good, it would've been very bad if you had developed it too. Make sure you don't touch him. As far as I know you would have to nearly kill him before the sharingan could be copied in your blood, but we don't want to risk it."

Sakura nodded trying to swallow food past the knot that had formed in her throat. She didn't know how she was going to deal with this. "Ok," she said.

Her mother handed her a roll of ryo. "After training today upgrade your equipment. Get clothes that will cover your skin and also body armor. We don't want you ending up in the hospital. If they end up using any techniques that need skin contact…your secret will be found out."

Sakura gulped. "I think I'll go to training now."

Her mother squeezed her shoulder and passed her a lunch box. "Make sure you never get to the point of starving. Some stories say that would make the blood limit act up and force you to drain someone."

"What!" Sakura's shrill voice made her mother wince in pain. "Now this damn thing is going to mess with my diet too?" She swiped the lunchbox in a huff and stomped out of the house before she could break down crying again.

By the time she reached the bridge of their training ground her anger had subsided to worry. She wondered what Sasuke thought had happened the day before. Did he know she had taken his chakra? She stood on the bridge fidgeting. After only a short while Sasuke appeared from the other end. Sakura watched his expression like a hawk. He settled himself against one side of the bridge with a slouch and grunted once in her direction. After that he went to staring ahead.

"Good morning, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura said with false cheer. The boy looked at her once, nodded, then went back to his silent contemplations. For once this response didn't depress Sakura. In fact she was nearly jumping for joy inside. Sasuke was treating her just like he always did. If he knew what had happened, she was sure he would look at her hatefully.

Relief flooded her and she slumped against the railing. She looked at him excitedly and opened her mouth to ask him for a date after training. _'Make sure you don't touch him,'_ her mother's words echoed in her mind. Her happiness evaporated as she was reminded of the conversation from the night before . Her father had said she wouldn't be able to touch anyone.

_No holding hands, no kissing…no romance, _she thought.

"Ohayo, Sakura-chan!" Naruto's loud greeting made her ears ache. "Yo! Bastard, going to faint again today?" He snickered.

Sakura was on her feet in an instant. Her punch sent Naruto tumbling off the bridge. "Idiot!" she shouted down at him. "Don't talk to Sasuke-kun like that. It wasn't his fault he fainted yesterday!"

"Sakura," Sasuke muttered.

Sakura whirled, hearing her crush call her name. "Yes, Sasuke-kun?"

"Shut up."

Sakura averted her eyes from him feeling her spirit crushed. She hardly heard Naruto come to her defense and get in Sasuke's face. She had drained him yesterday, it had been her fault. She could've stolen his sharingan, his birthright!

_Hey! Outer!_

Sakura rolled her eyes. Her inner self was going to be annoying again.

_You know, I can hear everything you think, right? Anyway, this bloodline sucks, but guess what? We learned a couple of new jutsu. _

Sakura lost her bad mood as he natural curiosity was piqued.

_We got the grand fireball technique from Sasuke-kun and we got the shunsin from Dad last night. _Her inner sent Sakura knowledge of the hand seals for both techniques. _We're going to be awesome, Shannaro!_

Trembling with excitement Sakura started practicing the hand seals for the grand fireball. She made sure she was turned away from Sasuke. The last thing she wanted was for him to find out. Her hands and fingers moved smoothly through the seals as if they had the muscle memory of doing them for years. "Hell, yes!" Sakura pumped her fist. She then noticed Naruto and Sasuke looking at her strangely. She laughed nervously and waved. _Glad I didn't mould chakra while doing that. I'll try it later. _

"Ne, ne, Sakura-chan? After training today, do you want to go on a date?" Naruto asked and just like that Sakura was depressed again. The emotional roller coaster was really getting her down.

"No, Naruto," she said softly. _I'll probably never get to go out with anyone. _

"Um, ok, are you alright?" Naruto asked, his eyes scrunched in worry.

In answer she just got up and walked away.

(Break)

Training that day had been horrible. Kakashi-sensei wanted to do team work exercises and taijutsu practice. Sakura had never realized how much they had to brush up against each other or would make skin to skin contact. She shied away from getting near either of her teammates. Everyone kept giving her odd looks, wondering why she was being so skittish.

During taijutsu she only used kicks and dodged rather than blocked. Sasuke nearly beat her into the ground and Naruto simply stopped the match when she didn't hit back like he was used to. She feigned being tired. Kakashi had looked at her with that half-lidded one eye and then smiled to reassure her that she could sit out. Somehow, Sakura thought, that he knew she was faking.

Finally the day came to an end after a ridiculous grocery run 'mission.' They were back at their training ground. Sakura's nerves were thoroughly frayed. She couldn't wait to be away from people.

"Now, my cute little puppies, remember we have to take our team picture tomorrow. So dress nice and be on time," Kakashi-sensei said and disappeared in a shunsin.

"We're not puppies!" Naruto yelled after him.

Sakura watched Sasuke leave. For the first time since Ino and she had started their rivalry she didn't ask him for a date. After all, Sasuke wanted to restart his clan, he couldn't do that with a girl he couldn't touch. She sighed and turned to go home only to come face to face with Naruto.

"You look down, Sakura-chan. What's wrong?" he asked and wiped his nose on his sleeve.

Sakura scowled at his terrible manners. "Nothing's wrong."

"Ramen makes me feel happy when I'm sad. I can show you the best place in town," he offered with a large smile.

It had been a long, emotionally taxing day. Sakura snapped. She grabbed Naruto by the collar and pulled him off the ground. She didn't notice the boy's hands come up and wrap around her wrists. "No, for the last time, for the _hundredth_ time, I don't want to go on a date! I will _never _want to date you. Just-" she stopped when she felt that warm feeling from yesterday.

Naruto had his eyes shut and he was flinching in anticipation of Sakura's fists of fury. But Sakura was preoccupied by Naruto's hands on her wrists. They were turning a little white where he was holding her. Warmth was flooding into her as if she was standing under a waterfall. She felt the aches and tiredness from the long day just disappear. Images flickered through her mind that she couldn't make out. She didn't pay attention to them. She was staring at Naruto's face which seemed no different than any other time she had hit him. His reaction wasn't at all like when she had touched Sasuke.

"Naruto, are you ok?" she asked.

"If you don't hit me, I will be fine, Sakura-chan, hehe," he said and opened one eye tentatively to see if she was still angry.

"Are you tired? Do you feel like you will pass out?" she demanded, shaking him a little.

"No, I'm fine, Sakura-chan!" he hollered.

Sakura kept holding his collar and lifting him off the ground, using the little height advantage she had over him. Which meant, in turn, he had to hold on to her wrists to keep himself steady. The life force rushing into her made Sakura feel like she could take on the world. The chakra itched under her skin, almost as if it wanted to be used. Slowly she let him go. He fell to the ground and groused.

Sakura just stared at her hands and marveled at the sensation of power in herself. "Show me your hands, Naruto."

The boy gave her a puzzled look but held up his hands. She helped him up so she could look at his palms closely. There was no evidence of the pale whiteness she had seen on her Dad or Sasuke. It was as if she hadn't touched him at all.

"Um, Sakura-chan?" Naruto said after a while.

Coming to herself she stepped away from Naruto and shot him a confused look. _How can this idiot not be affected. _ After a moment's thought she realized she had put Naruto in serious danger. If it had been like yesterday, she might've killed him by touching him. She couldn't lose her cool like that and hurt someone. She felt crushing guilt and bowed her head. "I'm sorry, Naruto… I haven't been feeling well since yesterday. I just lost my temper."

"That's ok, Sakura-chan. I'm glad you feel better now. I was worried when you didn't hit me this morning for asking you out." He laughed.

Sakura gave him a weak smile. "Thanks."

"So do you want to-" he started to ask but stopped when he saw Sakura raise her fist.

"You know what, I'm hungry. So let's go eat," Sakura said suddenly. She was still feeling guilty about endangering Naruto. "But _only_ as teammates!" she added quickly, unable to make herself heard over Naruto's shouts of joy.

(break)

"God, Naruto! Mind your manners!" Sakura snapped.

"Wha mawwers?" Naruto said with his mouth full of noodles. Behind the bar the nice older girl shook her head at Naruto and shared a despairing look with Sakura.

"Would you like some more, Sakura-san?" Ayame asked.

Sakura shook her head and gave a slight bow of thanks. "I can see why Naruto likes your stand so much. The food makes you feel warm inside." Ayame gave her a big smile.

"I knew you would like it, Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled happily.

Sakura dearly wished someone had taught the boy manners. She winced inwardly when she recalled that the boy had no one. "Well, thanks for showing me this place. I've got to go. I need some equipment from the weapons shop."

"ooh! ooh! I know a great place, Sakura-chan. Jiji showed it to me. I'll take you there!"

Before Sakura could say anything Naruto had already paid for his meal and was walking down the street. She stood rooted for a moment but then followed. _Does he mean the Hokage when he says jiji?_ she wondered to herself. It had been a shock to watch him talk to the Hokage so casually. Despite herself she was curious about the shop the Hokage had recommended.

Naruto had almost completely exhausted any guilt she felt by the time they reached the shop. It had no name. A sign hung from the door with two ANBU masks painted on it, one in the shape of an ape and the other a toad. Sakura grimaced at the ugly masks but followed Naruto in.

"I made it, I made it!" Naruto was shouting at a grizzled and scarred man sitting behind the counter. Sakura figured he was an ex-shinobi.

"Oh? Who's the poor bastard who passed you then?" the man said without looking up from his newspaper. Sakura stood awkwardly just inside the door of the shop.

"Hatake Kakashi, he's pretty cool," Naruto answered happily.

"Kakashi passed a team?" The man put down the newspaper and looked at Naruto.

"Yes, is that a surprise?" Sakura asked, finally walking up to the counter and giving the man a short bow.

"He has failed every time he's been given one. The man has some tough standards." The shopkeeper rubbed the stubble on his face and laughed to himself. "Well, well, well, who would think you would get this lucky, Naruto. Kakashi, known as the man who has mastered a thousand jutsu. He's one of our most feared ninja."

"Are you sure? He doesn't look that strong." Naruto scrunched his eyes and gave the man a suspicious look.

"Wow, that's pretty awesome," Sakura said.

"So who are you, girly. I don't get genin in here usually. You saw the sign, most of my wares are designed for ANBU use. If you're looking for weapons I can help you out, but if you're looking for a wardrobe…" he gestured to his shop shelves which didn't have things like battle kimono or other dresses of the like.

"Oh, c'mon, you can help Sakura-chan out, can't you? She's my teammate," Naruto whined.

"Actually, sir, this might be where I should be," Sakura said, spying the body armor. "I'm Haruno Sakura."

"Well, kid, I don't know if I should congratulate you on making it on Hatake Kakashi's team or not. The village will have high expectations of you both. Go ahead and look around, your sensei will approve of anything you get here. He was an ANBU once upon a time," the man gave her a crooked smile.

Sakura smiled and skipped excitedly into the aisles. She had no idea her sensei had such a reputation. Maybe getting armor wouldn't be so bad if it helped her live up to his expectations. She did feel a little sad that she would have to leave her cute dresses behind.

"Megumi!" the shopkeeper yelled. "Customer for you."

Sakura looked over her shoulder to see a woman step out from a door behind the counter. She looked to be as old and scarred as the man. "They're letting 'em in to ANBU younger and younger. Is this one even potty trained yet?" the woman grumbled. Sakura felt her face heat up as Naruto and the man laughed.

"No, she's on Hatake Kakashi's new genin team with Naruto here. Needs a uniform. I think she'd rather have a woman helping her out," the man said.

The woman came around. "Hmm, so a smart one if she came here then. Most genin girls I see these days dress like they're seduction specialists. Stupid brats. Come here, girl, let me look at you."

Polite as ever, Sakura kept her thoughts about the woman to herself. "Thank you for helping, ma'am."

Megumi eyes her up and down and gestured her to turn around. Sakura obediently turned in a circle . "So what're you here for, kid?"

Sakura hesitated for a moment but decided to share exactly what she wanted. "I need body armor and clothes that cover almost all my skin… I'm not comfortable showing…" she demurely lowered her face. The act fooled the old woman well enough.

"I understand, girl. Don't worry. It's sensible to not attract attention on missions until you're strong enough to wear more provocative dresses. There's value in distracting your enemy though, so when you're ready you can show off," the woman cackled as if she had cracked a joke and Sakura smiled politely.

In half an hour Sakura was looking at herself in a mirror. She hardly recognized herself. She wore a formfitting half-sleeved red top. Over that she had body armor in style of ANBU, only it was black in color. Black gloves that covered her hands completely came up mid bicep. The gloves had metal protectors built in along the forearms.

The woman had brought her boots that came up to mid-thigh. The leather was comfortable and protection was built in metal plating along shin, calves, and knees. The little skin exposed between black bicycle shorts and her boots was covered by mesh stockings. A red apron skirt hung to her knees. Megumi had promised to have more skirts made with the Haruno symbol.

"C'mon, Sakura-chan, put it on," Naruto encouraged her, pointing to the mask she was holding in her hand.

Sakura sighed. It was true, the only skin left exposed was her face. But she figured that if someone was going to punch her face then they deserved her draining their chakra. Unfortunately, with Naruto, the shopkeeper, and Megumi-san standing there she couldn't refuse. She took the red face mask and put it on. Megumi slipped Sakura's head protector over one eye just like Kakashi. They all cheered and even Sakura giggled.

She had been dreading changing her gear but with Megumi's help and Naruto's enthusiasm to see a girl version of Kakashi, it had turned out to be fun. "Ok, Naruto," Sakura said between laughing. "I'll get the stupid mask but I'll only wear it on missions out of the village."

"Yay! I'll get one too. Our team picture is going to be awesome tomorrow!" Naruto cheered.

"At least I still have a skirt, I don't look like a boy completely," Sakura said.

"You look tough, Sakura-chan, and pretty," Naruto said in his usual blunt way.

Sakura giggled when she saw the boy had put on an blue facemask. "Thanks, idiot."

It was odd, she thought, ever since she had drained Naruto, she had felt so energized. She felt she could keep up with the hyper fool. It wasn't as bad as it usual was.

_Maybe we should drain him more often, shannaro!_ Her inner self added excitedly.

Sakura considered it for a moment and was a bit horrified that she didn't immediately think it was a bad idea. To distract herself she asked Naruto, "Aren't you going to change your clothes, Naruto? I don't want to be the only one doing something special for our picture tomorrow."

"Eh, they don't have anything in orange." He pouted when Megumi smacked him up the head.

"I'll dye whatever you want. Come with me, I'll match you up with your teammate. Maybe you won't embarrass the reputation of Team 7 if you look the part," Megumi said and grabbed Naruto by the scruff of his neck. Sakura just laughed and went up to the counter to pay for her equipment and order more sets. Coming to the shop had been very educational. She learned so much about her sensei and the history of Team 7. She couldn't wait to gossip with Ino.

(Break)

She was finally able to get rid of Naruto at the shop and go home. She wore the mask to get used to it. Every now and then she would notice eyes on her and a couple of times she received respectful nods from civilians and other shinobi. It amused her that just dressing similar to an ANBU got her acknowledgment. She smiled widely under the mask. She couldn't remember feeling better.

At home her mother and father were waiting at the dining table. Her father looked at her and gave her an approving nod. He held open his arms and she happily rushed to give him a hug. Covered as she was there was no fear of her draining him. Her mother joked, "Oh good, I half expected you to show up with a gown."

"Mom, I'm not that bad." Sakura crossed her arms.

"So, how was your day? Anything to report?" her father asked her.

Sakura winced. She would have to tell them about Naruto. "I did something stupid. Naruto made me really angry so I sort of grabbed his shirt to yell at him. And…he sort of…grabbed my wrists."

"Is he alright? Did anyone see?" her mother demanded.

"He's fine and no, no one was around. But that's what's so amazing, he didn't feel anything. His energy was just flowing in me, faster than when it happened with Sasuke-kun or you, Dad. He didn't even notice." She saw her parents exchange a frightened glance. "What? What do you know?"

"Sakura," her father said quietly. "What were your emotions like after you drained him?"

"Happy. I felt like I could take over the world. I'd never felt better," She answered. "Do you know why he wouldn't feel anything?"

"So the chakra you got from him didn't hurt you. You didn't feel homicidal?" her father continued.

This time Sakura scowled at him. "Please, Dad, this is Naruto we're talking about, in what world would that idiot's chakra feel homicidal? And, no, his didn't hurt me."

Her mother snorted at her description of Naruto. "I swear you will be the death of me one day," she muttered.

Her father laughed too. "I think it might be because of his clan, Sakura. You did study about the Land of Whirlpools, yes?"

Sakura nodded. "I thought he only got the Uzumaki name because he's an orphan and the village wanted to honor our old allies."

"_Officially_ there is no proof that he is an Uzumaki," her father said carefully. "I think what you experienced is the only evidence that the boy has inherited the special potent chakra of the Uzumaki clan."

Sakura was an intelligent girl, she understood enough not to pry any further into that line of inquiry. "So…you think Naruto is safe from me?"

Her mother nodded and smiled happily. "We're very lucky he's on your team. In case you ever lose control of your power and have to feed-"

"No!" Sakura stood up suddenly. "I don't want to feed on anyone. I…what if he had died? What if he's not so lucky next time."

"Sakura! Get a hold of yourself." Her father grabbed her shoulder and forced her back in her seat. "One thing we've suspected is that being low in chakra can trigger a need to consume someone. You will have to raise your chakra levels and your control. I will leave training scrolls with your mother in the morning. Until then be thankful that you blundered into receiving the gift of an Uzumaki's chakra."

Sakura nodded. She had never had her father snap at her as often as he had in the last two days. "I'm sorry…I'm just afraid."

"Don't be, child, we're with you. Now go, you should sleep and regain your energy." Her mother shooed her to her room.

(break)

Sakura changed out of her new uniform. Her emotions were in turmoil. She was forced to think of her annoying teammate in a different light. Both Sasuke and Naruto had such amazing clans. Unknowingly Naruto had even helped her. She didn't know how to feel about that.

_Hey, outer, we learned a jutsu from Naruto. Go on, try it. Just follow me,_ her inner persona said.

Without thinking about it she followed along with her unrestrained aspect's desires. A moment later there was cloud of smoke and Sakura found herself naked. She looked in the body length mirror in her room. She had grown several years, her bust and hips had filled out, clouds strategically floated around to keep her from being completely exposed.

Her inner roared in laughter. _Hahaha, Sexy no Jutsu Sakura version!_

Sakura blushed furiously but looked at the henged body a bit longingly. She would kill to have a body like that. "Kai!" she dispelled the henge and cracked her knuckles. "You idiot, why did you make me do that?"

_You were moping and besides it was fun. Naruto is one crazy bastard. _

"I'm going to kill him tomorrow."

(End)


	2. Chapter 2

A.N. Sakura's powers are based on primarily Rogue from X men but as you can see there are aspects of Parasite from Superman as well. I'm using them as a starting point. She won't necessarily be constrained or have all the benefits they do. We'll see how it goes.

**Pink Parasite 2**

Sakura woke up before sunrise and leapt out of bed. She hummed to herself as she got ready for the day and enjoyed the surplus energy she had. _I wonder if Naruto feels like this everyday, he's so lucky. _

In the kitchen her mother had laid out a large spread for breakfast like the day before. Sakura sat down without complaint and began working through whatever was piled in her plate. She didn't ever want to be in a position where she needed to eat someone because she had been dieting. It was hardly as if it mattered what her figure looked like now, she thought glumly.

"Your father had to leave for a mission this morning. He won't be back for a few weeks. That scroll on the table has instructions from him," her mother said.

Sakura nodded. "The exercises to increase reserves, right?"

"And to better control what you have. If you have good control you will waste less and have more left in the tank," her mother added. "Teach Naruto as well."

Sakura frowned at her mother who in turn raised a golden brow in question. "Why?" Sakura asked suspiciously.

"If the boy controls his chakra better then he will have more in his reserves in case you ever need to feed off of him," her mother said, blithely ignoring Sakura's deepening frown.

"I'm not going to eat him." Sakura glared at her mother.

"Start thinking like a ninja, Sakura. You don't know when you might need that boy. So make sure he's good enough to help you when the need arises," her mother said.

Sakura groaned and dropped her head on the table. "Why does it have to be Naruto!"

"Do you have another Uzumaki willing to hang out with you?" her mother said waspishly. Sakura only groaned in answer.

(Break)

Sakura made it to the training grounds before anyone else and set herself to read her father's scroll. A small letter was enclosed with guidance on what she should focus on. Her father was concerned about her getting injured so he wanted her to specialize in things that didn't make her a frontline fighter. Sakura snorted at this direction. Seeing how physically aggressive both Sasuke and Naruto were she had no doubt that they would be a heavy combat or assassination team. Which meant she would have to be tough enough to fight alongside them. It would only make her job of staying out of a hospital harder.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled as he came on to the grounds.

Despite herself Sakura smiled. The evening before had been fun and his chakra inside her was still making her feel pretty happy. "Naruto...you didn't change your clothes?"

"Ha, well, I escaped that demon lady. But I have the mask." He gave her a victory sign. "Ne, what're you reading there?"

"Some training scrolls to make my chakra very strong," Sakura said, trying to keep her explanation simple.

"Ooh, can I see?" He crouched next to her and tried to read over her shoulder.

Sakura was about to clobber him for invading her personal space when her inner spoke up, _He's putting himself on a silver platter, outer. Teach him like mother said. We might need to eat him later. Besides, he's fun._

Sakura rolled her eyes at the last statement, wondering why her inner liked Naruto so much suddenly. "You can see if you promise to work on it with me later."

"You got it, Sakura-chan, it's a promise." He grinned toothily and blushed.

"Eugh," Sakura groaned. "I'm not asking you out, idiot. I just want a training partner."

"Sorry, sorry," he said but didn't lose the grin.

The sound of approaching footsteps distracted them both and they saw Sasuke slowly making his way on to the bridge. He stared at Sakura for a long moment and it seemed as if he was going to say something but then decided not to. As usual his presence made Sakura's heart race a little. "Do you like my new uniform, Sasuke-kun?"

"It's better than that dress you wore." Sasuke shrugged.

"Thanks!" she said happily, not really minding the backhanded compliment.

Naruto had stood up and was glaring at Sasuke. Sakura wondered if the boys were going to start fighting so early in the morning. Naruto threw something at Sasuke which he deftly caught and frowned at. Naruto held up his blue facemask and said, "I got you one too for our team picture. Now we can match with Sakura-chan."

Sakura smiled. "That was very nice of you to think of Sasuke-kun, Naruto."

Naruto blushed but Sasuke ruined the moment. "I don't need to hide my face," he said and threw the mask back at Naruto.

"Bastard!" Naruto yelled and jumped at the other boy. Unfortunately Kakashi chose that moment to appear and the little blond crashed into his sensei.

"Maa, everyone is so energetic this morning." Kakashi's one exposed eye rolled from one student to another but came to rest on Sakura the longest. Just as she was beginning to get uncomfortable he smiled at her. "That's a good look, Sakura-chan."

She blushed and was happy that her face was hidden behind a mask. "Thank you, sensei."

"Look at me, Kaka-sensei." Naruto hopped where he stood and pointed at the blue mask he was wearing now.

"Ah, I have such cute little students." Kakashi ruffled Naruto's hair. "Come along, ducklings, we should get our picture taken."

"C'mon, Sasuke, last one there is a rotten Uchiha!" Naruto yelled and ran.

Before Sakura could scold him Sasuke took after the blond. "They're such good friends," Kakashi said with his crinkle eyed smile. Sakura decided not to correct her weird sensei.

(Break)

In the end Naruto harangued Sasuke into wearing the facemask for one picture and for another the genin showed their faces. The rest of the day went much better for Sakura than before. For training they worked on their weapon throwing accuracy. Sasuke disdainfully cleared all of Kakashi's challenges. Poor Naruto tried to outdo Sasuke so Sakura would look at him and sigh happily as well. Unfortunately he ended up getting reprimanded for throwing kunai like a monkey.

When it was Sakura's turn she stepped up to the line and looked critically at the three trees she would have to bounce her kunai off of to reach the target painted on a fourth tree. She tried to calculate the angles mentally but Kakashi-sensei barked at her to start. She jumped a little and threw the kunai. It hit the target perfectly centre.

"Whoa! Awesome, Sakura-chan!" Naruto pumped his fist. Sakura blinked at her shot in surprise and then just smiled at the others.

"You know I was pretty good in the Academy too, Naruto," she said, putting her hands on her hips and striking an arrogant pose unknowingly.

_You can thank me for this one,_ her inner said. _Sasuke-kun is so talented. _

Sakura kept the smile on her face even though she wanted to react to Inner's comment. Apparently she had stolen Sasuke's kunai throwing skills. He'd always been the best at the Academy but she had been in the top ten so it wasn't a major upgrade in skill level for her.

"Nothing less to be expected of my protege," Kakashi-sensei said. He was leaning against a tree with his head in an orange book.

Sakura felt pride swell up in her at her sensei's approval. _He called us his protege, cha! _Outside she demurely bowed.

"Ano, why can't I be your protege!" Naruto yelled.

"Sakura-chan has shown her dedication to her sensei, Naruto." He tapped his mask with the book and gave both Sasuke and Naruto's scowls an eye smile.

"Hey! That's not fair, it's too hot to wear a mask!" Naruto yelled.

"Now, now, Naruto, I won't accept you and Sasuke being jealous of your teammate. So let's do a teamwork exercise." The silver haired jounin smirked at his kids' groans. "Alright line up in a row and get down for push-ups."

After the three were in the ready position he walked over and lay down on their backs. His head and upper body rested on Sakura's back, his middle was on Naruto's, and his legs were on Sasuke. "Aaand, start. Sasuke, count off."

"One," Sasuke grunted and knocked out a push up before either of the other two. It made Kakashi's weight fall unevenly.

"Bastard!" Naruto grunted.

"We have to do it together, Sasuke-kun," Sakura added, just barely hiding how peeved she was.

"See, you're getting it. All together now," Kakashi-sensei said and brought out his orange book to continue reading.

Sakura's Inner cursed like a sailor but she dutifully started doing pushups and coaxing the boys to fall in the same rhythm. She was so glad she had gotten the new uniform last night.

_What are you talking about, Outer. It would be fun to drain Kaka-sensei. Imagine a thousand jutsu!_

_Shut up, Inner._

(Break)

At the end of the day which was midafternoon since Kakashi-sensei actually showed up on time, Sakura was beginning to feel really tired. Kakashi-sensei disappeared in a shunshin and Sasuke slouched away. Sakura had to stop herself from asking him out once again.

"Damn it! This sucks!" she screamed.

"What sucks?" Naruto asked her. As usual he had stayed back, hoping to spend time with her.

"Err..umm…" Sakura searched for something other than the truth. "You know how Kakashi-sensei disappears, I want to do that!"

"Yeah, he thinks he's so cool." Naruto crossed his arms and frowned at the empty space his sensei had been a few minutes ago.

Sakura smiled at how easy it was to distract the boy. Seeing as how training was over she decided to make herself comfortable. It had been a hot day and she was sweating under her gear. She took off the long gloves, the facemask, and the armor. She sighed happily. "That feels better."

"Ne, ne, can I look at those scrolls now?" Naruto hopped in front of her with clasped hands in a begging motion.

For a moment Sakura was confused about what he was talking about. "Oh! I forgot." She dug out the scrolls from her small backpack. "Guess I should start on these," she grumbled. Unfurling the scroll marked with a '1' she started reading it. Naruto came around and hopped on the railing behind her so he could read over her shoulder.

"Tree climbing? How the heck will that make my chakra strong?" he groused.

"It increases the efficiency of your chakra use, teaches you precise chakra moulding, and because you're expelling chakra and gaining both physical and mental experience it grows your reserves," Sakura answered.

Naruto gave her a wide eyed look of incomprehension and scratched his head. "I don't know…"

Sakura sighed. She knew that people in her class didn't like her at times because she sounded like a nerd. Why did she think Naruto, of all people, would understand her. She was about to bop him on the head for being a moron when Inner stopped her. _Tell him to trust you and that it's a technique Dad gave you so he should be honored you're sharing with him._

Sakura felt that hitting him into compliance was easier but went with Inner's strategy. "Do you trust me, Naruto?"

"Of course, Sakura-chan!"

Sakura nodded and held Naruto gaze before beginning solemnly, "My Dad gave me this technique, Naruto. Are you looking down on a father's precious teachings to her daughter?"

Naruto yelled and waved his hands in a warding manner. "No, Sakura-chan. I didn't mean that. Let's do it! We'll make your dad proud."

Sakura smirked. "Alright, let's go find some big trees." As Naruto scampered ahead of her to find the perfect tree she turned to her inner, _When did you learn Naruto-speak? _

_Oh, I've been getting to know him in here. Pretty good, eh?_ Inner said in a superior tone.

_What do you mean in there? _Sakura demanded.

_Nothing, _Inner sounded panicked, _I mean we've been hanging out, of course we would learn how to manipulate him._

Sakura bristled, _We're __**not**__ manipulating anyone!_

_We're not? _Inner asked confusedly.

"Hey! Sakura-chan! Where are you?" Naruto's voice floated from somewhere deep in the copse of trees on their training ground. Leaving her argument for later Sakura decided to jog over to him.

(Break)

Two hours later Naruto and Sakura were lying on the grass in front of a large tree. Both were out of breath. The air was muggy and insects buzzed around them, further irritating the both of them.

"This sucks," Naruto grumbled. "How come you've gotten so far ahead?" He sat up, already beginning to look recovered.

"You have a lot of chakra and you never learned to do the leaf exercise well, Naruto. It's going to be harder for you." She breathed heavily, trying to get her heart rate down from the hard exercise. "Just be patient."

"Man, I wish we could so something cool. Are you sure your Dad doesn't have anything fun?" he asked.

_Hey, Outer. He gets memories of whatever his shadow clones do when they pop. Think he will gain mental experience if he uses them? It might help._

"Naruto, why aren't you using your clones? Don't you get their memories?" Sakura snapped.

"Um, I don't know?" he said.

"Just do it."

"You got it, Sakura-chan!" Naruto made the hand seal and shouted. In a few seconds all standing room around them was filled with his clones.

Sakura's breath hitched. She could practically feel the chakra that had flowed from Naruto into the clones. An ache formed in the pit of her stomach. With fear she realized she was feeling hunger pains.

"I-I'm starving," she whispered to herself in horror.

"Do you want to go eat?" Naruto asked.

Her head snapped to Naruto and she thought she could hear a hum coming from him. She strained her ears but realized she wasn't really _hearing_ it. Some unknown sense was telling her there was food right in front of her. "Yeah, I want to eat," she whispered.

Naruto jumped up and grabbed her hands to pull her up. For the moments their skin made contact Sakura got a burst of warmth but he let go too soon for her to be satiated. Terrified now, she hurriedly put on her gloves and covered the rest of her body. It didn't matter to her how hot she was, she didn't want to lose control.

Numbly she walked along Naruto to the ramen stand.

(Break)

At the stand Naruto chatted happily with Ayame and Teuchi. Sakura steadily worked through her second bowl of beef ramen. As the food filled her stomach it became a little easier for her to control the desire to consume Naruto. Also she could sense that Naruto's chakra was being restored. She didn't know what was normal but it seemed to her he was recovering fast.

_We need that ability, outer. Just a little exhaustion made us flip out. What if we were really were at our limit?_

Sakura was terrified of this latest discovery: Her hunger was disproportional to her actual need. She would have to find a way to control that or just get mentally strong enough to bear it. Now that she feeling steady, she decided to test her limits again. Slowly she took off her gloves and as casually as she could she leaned against Naruto's side. His arm met hers and the warmth began flooding into her. When she heard his incessant conversation with the two ramen chefs stop, she explained, "Don't mind me, Naruto, I'm just tired."

Naruto was blushing beet red and Ayame was snickering. "U-uh, that's ok, Sakura-chan. Do you want to go home if you're tired?"

"No!" Sakura blurted, wide eyed. "I mean, no...I'm fine. I want you to eat. In fact, Ayame-san, can you make five more bowls for him. I'll pay for them." She smiled embarrassedly at the older girl when she received a wink from her.

"Of course, Sakura. You just rest against Naruto," Ayame said and began cooking.

"Thanks, Sakura-chan, you're the best." Naruto gave her a thumbs up.

"Sure, sure. Hey, did you tell Teuchi-san about our teamwork exercise?" she prompted. Naruto gasped at forgetting and began regaling the man about their awful sensei.

Sakura sighed and kept measure of time in her head. She estimated she had touched Naruto the day before for only a handful of minutes. But the life force infusion in her had lasted for close to twenty-four hours. This time she was going to hold on to him as long as possible. With her new ability to sense life force, she figured she would know when her feeding would become dangerous for the boy.

_I need to learn those chakra control exercises. I was wasting so much chakra on tree climbing today, _she thought to herself. _Hey, Inner?_

_**What?**_

_Did you learn how to use that shadow clone jutsu? _

_**As if you have to ask, **_came the arrogant response.

Sakura rolled her eyes at her vain companion. _Does it really need as much chakra as Naruto was putting in it?_

_**Hell if I should know. I only have the hand seal and the mental process on how to do it. I don't have his memory of learning it. **_

_Damn. There goes my plan to use them for learning things and grow our chakra by adding spiritual experience. _

_**Just ask him where he learned it and get the scroll. He'll do anything for us.**_

_He's already doing a lot for us. Even if he doesn't know it, _Sakura grumbled. It amazed her that just two days ago she couldn't have imagined herself being nice to Naruto let alone be relying on him. _Why couldn't it have been Sasuke-kun?_

_**Thank your stars it's not him helping us. His psyche is too damaging. I had to lock it away and kill it before it could hurt us**__, _Inner said and shuddered.

_What?! His psyche? _

_**I didn't tell you before because you would freak out. When we eat someone we take in their life force, knowledge, abilities, that's what Dad said. But he didn't say that we can also take in part of their psyche...what makes them who they are. Luckily it's just an imprint, otherwise Sasuke-kun would have been brain dead.**_

Sakura couldn't hear anything but her heart beating loudly in her ears. Her blood was rushing and she felt both cold and hot. She wanted these horrible revelations to stop. First she found out she couldn't touch anyone, then that she would develop an intense need to feed on others, and now that she could steal people's psyche.

_**Calm down, Outer. They'll notice. There's a positive, you've got me. I protect your mind and soul. And I will learn how to stop a psyche from coming through. Just focus on Naruto's chakra. It's warm, it's bright, it's innocent, and playful. Just focus on that. **_

Unbeknownst to Outer, Inner started absorbing some of the psyche imprint that was coming through to give them strength. She locked or destroyed all of the negatives, which were the loneliness, anger, and a sense of abandonment Naruto always felt.

Sakura took deep breaths and brought herself off the precipice of having another breakdown. She let Naruto's conversation with Ayame and Teuchi wash over. Their everyday casual bantering with affectionate teasing distracted her. She felt an immense amount of gratitude for them. In fact, she decided, she would have another bowl of ramen. It was comfort food after all.

The last thought gave her pause. _Oi, Inner! Is why I like ramen suddenly because Naruto is in our head?!_

_...__**Maybe?**_

Sakura hung her head in defeat.

(Break)

Sakura arrived back home arm in arm with Naruto. It had been an hour of physical contact and she judged that she had drained a tenth of his reserves roughly. She couldn't be sure of that estimate because his constant chakra regeneration threw off her calculation. She herself felt incredible and imagined she had quadrupled her base capacity. _I wonder if my chakra coils will keep developing to stay up with this much feeding._

The discovery was both exciting and humbling for her. The latter because she understood the difference in chakra between her and Naruto. She could never have imagined the silly boy was that powerful.

"Ne, Naruto, thanks for today," she said quietly when they reached her door.

"Huh, what for?" Naruto asked with his eyes scrunched up in confusion.

Sakura smiled softly. "For training with me, of course and for…" She didn't know how to say the rest so just settled for ruffling his hair like Kakashi-sensei did.

"Hey! Stop that!" he whined. "So do you want to train again tomorrow? Do you have any cool techniques from your dad?"

She giggled at his one track mind for cool jutsu. "You know, I do have one. It's the grand fireball technique. Let's learn it together tomorrow."

Naruto jumped and punched the air in excitement. "I'll make a fireball as big as the Hokage tower!"

Sakura started laughing but then suddenly stopped. "Err. No, Naruto. You might actually, really do that."

"So?"

"So, you want to burn our training ground down?" she smacked him upside the head. "We'll also do chakra control exercises like today."

Naruto groaned. "My clones are still doing them. One of them popped when he got bored. I'm three feet higher than when we left."

Sakura threw up her hand for a high five which Naruto returned excitedly. "You know, you'll have to teach me how to make a shadow clone too."

"I will, Sakura-chan. I'm going to go practice more. I'll get as high as you by tomorrow!" With that he ran off.

"Don't forget to sleep!" Sakura yelled after him. "Idiot," she muttered to herself without any heat.

(Break)

The next day Sakura decided go early to continue working on tree climbing. On her way she started noticing the chakra presence of people around her. The day before this sense had identified Naruto as food. She figured this sense was there to help her hunt. She tried not to stare at anyone but started building a classification in her mind for the varying strengths she felt. The greater the chakra the more her instincts told her to stalk the source. Luckily, after feeding on Naruto the night before she didn't feel the need to hunt.

When she got to the tree she saw that Naruto's side had marks much higher than the day before. She smiled in satisfaction, apparently using clones had worked. Gathering and focusing her chakra she took a few steps up the tree before she was blasted off.

"Damn it, I have a lot more chakra than I'm used to," she grumbled and continued. She was, however, naturally talented at control so managed to compensate for her new reserves within half an hour.

Her hunter's sense began buzzing again. She stood on the tree and looked in the direction she felt it from. In a few minutes Naruto came crashing through the underbrush. Sakura waved down to him. He babbled excitedly up at her about how much he had improved. She paid his words on half attention. She was too stunned by the fact that Naruto was registering to be even stronger than the day before.

_The more chakra you expel, the more you grow. I guess he grows fast…very fast, _she thought to herself. "Hey, how do you feel today? Are you still tired from last night?"

"I'm great, Sakura-chan, let me show you!" He ran up the tree, quickly reaching her.

Sakura grinned and held out her bare hand. Just as Naruto grabbed it she started running farther up the tress. She pulled him along until he started matching her step for step. _I'm not just a parasite, I'm helping him grow too. If I feed off of him he's forced to regenerate and gets stronger. This will be the way I pay you back for helping me, Naruto._

"Woohoo!" Naruto shouted as they turned on their heels at the top of the tree and rushed down the trunk. Sakura happily went along with him. She had been feeling chipper since the feeding and now she was continuing it through their clasped hands.

After a few laps she called a halt. It looked like along with his clones Naruto had managed to get the exercise down in a night. "So the next thing we need to do is water walking."

"Can't we do the grand fireball now?" Naruto begged.

"Well, I want to do it by a lake so we don't burn anything down," Sakura said.

"But-but-!"

"Calm down. How about we try the shunshin, my Dad showed me how to do it." She grinned at his stunned look.

"That's what Kaka-sensei does, right? When he moves so fast we can't see him?" he demanded. Sakura nodded in answer. Naruto put his hands on her shoulders and gave her a serious look. "Sakura-chan, I love your Dad."

Sakura shoved him away. "Idiot, haha. I'll tell him you're a fan. Anyway, this is how it goes…" And so she started teaching him and realized that his hand seals were awful, which made the training become even more difficult.

(Break)

"Ready?" Sakura asked. Naruto nodded with a look of concentration and his hand in the ram seal. "Alright, go!"

A deluge of leaves swirled around Naruto and in another instant she saw only a blurred image of him run and slam into a tree. He was lying there twitching and groaning in pain. Sakura made her ram seal and rapidly moved to his location. She took one look at his scuffed face and broke down laughing. "Only you would try a high speed jutsu without looking where you're going."

"Sakura-chan, don't be mean," he grumbled.

"It's time for team training. If you want to practice this jutsu, why don't you send some of your clones to another field?" She suggested and then added with a grin, "Somewhere without trees maybe."

Naruto did just that and caught up with her as she started walking to the bridge. "You're pretty amazing, Sakura-chan, you didn't even have to practice the shunshin."

Sakura shrugged. She didn't feel like accepting praise for stealing the technique off her Dad. "I wonder what we'll do today. I've got energy to burn."

"Maybe we can fight Kaka-sensei again!" Naruto said.

"Well, we could improve our Taijutsu. Sasuke-kun is the best so he probably doesn't need the help."

"I'm pretty good, he's not the only strong one," Naruto was quick to add.

"Your Taijutsu technique is worse than mine but you're physically stronger than me. We could both improve…Do you think Sasuke-kun would like to practice with us?" she asked hopefully.

"That bastard?" Naruto snapped but then noticed Sakura's wistful face. "Ah, you know, he can be cool sometimes, maybe he will. You know what? I'll make him!"

"Wait!" Sakura shouted, seeing the blond run ahead of her. "Always going half-cocked!" She slipped on her gloves and mask and ran after him.

(Break)

**A few weeks later**

As it turned out Sasuke was only too happy to practice with Naruto and her. A small part of Sakura was aware that 'practice' to Sasuke meant complete beat down. But she was happy to get an approving nod from him for trying to improve.

"If I could use my clones you wouldn't look so smug now!" Naruto yelled after another thrashing from Sasuke.

"No, Naruto," Sakura snapped. "This isn't a ninjutsu battle. How many times do I have to tell you?" She leapt at Sasuke and spun, her heel aiming for the back of his head. Sasuke always fought them two on one because he didn't think they were challenging enough otherwise. She only managed to graze his hair before he ducked and hit her with a rising uppercut.

_**I'm going to suck out all his chakra, how dare he hurt our beautiful face?**_ Inner shouted.

_Don't say that about Sasuke-kun, he's only helping. _Sakura picked herself off the floor and entered the fray again. Her stamina had increased exponentially after her feedings on Naruto.

_**Snap off the bastard's head, or I'll do it for you,**_Inner growled.

_I think you're spending too much time with Naruto. You never used to call Sasuke-kun 'bastard.'_ Sakura landed a straight punch in Sasuke's gut and Naruto managed to kick him in the back. It forced the boy to keel over Sakura's fist. She lost no time in putting him in a headlock and Naruto jumped on his back.

"Yield," Sakura demanded. Sasuke struggled but in a moment gave up.

"Yes, yes!" Naruto jumped in the air and pulled Sakura with him. He spun her around in a victory dance. "How was that?"

"Humph." Sasuke brushed himself off. "I guess managing to beat me after two weeks of trying makes you happy."

"It does, you're not ruining this for me, bastard," Naruto said with a cheeky grin.

Sasuke smirked back at him. "You know this means you get to fight me one on one now, Sakura, Naruto."

"Great," Sakura said with put on cheer.

Naruto thrust out a fist in Sasuke's direction. "C'mon, you know you want to." Sakura giggled seeing Sasuke look at Naruto uncomfortably. The stoic boy gave in and bumped fists with Naruto then looked at her. Quickly Sakura bumped fists with him and cheered inside. She had no hope for romance anymore but it was nice to be friendly with Sasuke-kun. She couldn't stop her crush.

"Yo!" Kakashi-sensei floated down to them. He had appeared on top one of the many gates on the bridge in their training ground. "Sorry for being late, a black cat-"

"LIAR!" Naruto and Sakura shouted in synch.

"Well, let's go do some missions," their sensei said in a subdued voice. He was going to work them extra hard for not listening to his excuses.

(Break)

Team 7 was once again on mission to catch Tora the missing cat. Sakura was getting well and truly tired of the cat. On more than one occasion Naruto had to hold her back from roasting the menace in a grand fireball.

"Kaka-sensei, I swear if we have to catch that cat one more time, I'm going to skewer it, BBQ it, and feed it to your nindogs," Sakura grumbled.

"Now, now, Sakura-chan, don't be like that. You'll give my dogs indigestion," Kakashi said with a smile.

"And whose fault would that be?" She shot him a glare.

"Oooh, Kaka-sensei is going to get it." Naruto nudged Sasuke who was smirking at how skittish their sensei looked around Sakura.

"Let's just report to the Hokage," Kakashi said while not so subtly moving away from Sakura.

"Stop being such a baby, as if I can do anything to a big bad jounin like you," Sakura snapped.

"You do know you're giving off killing intent, Sakura," Sasuke said with a genuine smile.

"Huh, really? Quick, Naruto, bring Tora here. I've heard small animals can get a heart attack from a ninja's killing intent." Sakura waved to Naruto who was holding Tora. The blond hesitated long enough for Kakashi to grab him by the back of his neck and shunshin to the Hokage tower.

"Too bad," Sasuke muttered.

"It's not over yet," Sakura grit out and disappeared in a cloud of her own shunshin.

Sakura appeared at the mission desk in a flurry of pink petals and launched herself at Kakashi. The man was handing off the animal to one of the chunnin. "I'll have vengeance!" she screamed. She landed on his back and pulled a kunai to stab the cat. Kakashi caught her hand just in time and pulled her forward to wrap his arms around her. In a moment he had locked down her arms and legs.

"Kaka-sensei, you never try to understand a maiden's pain," Sakura grumbled as the Hokage and his attendants stared at her.

"Naruto, Sakura, what's going on?" the Hokage asked.

"Ohayo, jiji!" Naruto greeted and looked at Sakura worriedly.

"Ohayo, Hokage-jiji." Sakura twirled her fingers in a wave. "Kaka-sensei was having us do an assassination exercise. I almost won."

"Kakashi! You cannot use the fire daimyo's wife's cat for an assassination exercise," the Hokage snapped.

"Ah…well…sorry?" Kakashi rubbed the back of his head and dropped Sakura on the floor. "I'll get you back for this," he muttered down to her.

"It's your fault anyway," she said and dusted herself off.

The Hokage heard everything so he snorted in amusement. Kakashi's genin were truly a handful. And the more the girl hung out with Naruto the more trouble she was becoming. _Calling him 'Hokage-jiji,'_ _the nerve of these youngsters_. _It's Naruto's influence on her._

Sasuke arrived shortly and started a whispered conversation with Naruto to find out what happened.

"Well seeing how all of your team is here now, I can assign you another mission. There's a babysitting mission in the town over," the Hokage paused when he saw Kakashi raise a hand.

"Babies might not be a safe option right now," Kakashi said glancing at his pink haired student.

"Alright, there's a grocery run-"

This time Naruto interrupted. "No thanks, I've had enough of being yelled at in stores."

"Hokage-sama, I think my team could use a midterm out of village mission," Kakashi added quickly before Iruka could blow his top.

The Hokage considered the team in front of him for a few moments and then nodded. He opened a 'C' rank scroll and threw it at Kakashi. "Escort mission to Land of Waves."

"Awesome, are we protecting a princess?" Naruto asked excitedly.

"Just pack for your mission and meet your team at the gate, Naruto. You will meet your client there. Dismissed," the Sandaime said. He figured the drunk client would not mix well with Kakashi's currently very volatile students.

"Yatta! C-rank!" Naruto ran off to pack.

Sakura, unfortunately, lost the fire she had built up. The village was safe, there was little chance of injury there. What would happen if she got seriously injured on this C rank? Her secret would get found out. She and Naruto had improved a lot in the last few weeks but she was still not confident.

In a haze of worry she left the tower, hoping to catch her mom at home.

(End)

* * *

A.N. Send me any requests you have of who Sakura should drain. They don't all have to be serious. They can be funny options too. Not all would make it into the main story but I can see some fun omakes here and there.


	3. Chapter 3

A.N. Thank you for all the great reviews and suggestions. I planned on doing an omake at the end of this chapter but got a little tired. I will do one soon.

**Pink Parasite 3**

When Sakura told her mother of the C rank mission the woman quietly went to the kitchen and brought out two packets. Each held three soldier pills. "Give one to Naruto," she said. Sakura pocketed them and looked up at her mother, trying to get the words that were stuck in her throat out. She was so frightened of what could happen away from home.

"Mom...what if-" she began but stopped when her mother raised her hand.

"Sakura, this is an opportunity. If you're lucky you will fight enemy ninja. This is the best time to steal techniques. If we are very, very lucky you will find someone with medical knowledge," her mother said with a smile.

Sakura was stunned. Of course, what was she expecting? Her mother to hug her and tell her to stay safe at home? When it came to her new _condition_ her parents were ruthless. They wanted her to become powerful and self-sufficient as fast as possible. Her mother had done everything in her power to make Sakura feed on Naruto. She had gone out of her way to encourage her to spend time with the boy to build bonds. If her parents could use her teammate so easily why would they hesitate about enemy shinobi. "H-hai," Sakura breathed and dropped her gaze.

Her mother kneeled and kissed her masked cheek. Sakura could feel the warmth of her lips through the cloth which sparked a pit of hunger in her stomach. She jerked back, hating herself. Her mother gave her an understanding look. "Sorry, Sakura, I guess the bloodline is getting stronger." She sighed and stood up. "Go on and good hunting."

Sakura simply nodded and ran out of the house with her gear.

(Break)

Sakura arrived at the village gates with soldier pills secreted in her pocket. A failsafe her mother had purchased so that she didn't lose control. Her mother had also advised her to drain any ninja she ran into. _As long as I can do it without Sharingan no Kakashi being any the wiser. Tall order. _

A drunk older man was standing by the guardhouse and there was no one else. He gave her a slow onceover and went back to his drinking. _Perv, _Sakura thought to herself. Soon the familiar presence of Naruto registered on her radar. He continued to surprise her with his growth. He kept increasing his chakra reserves even though she kept feeding on him daily. She herself was comparable to some of the stronger chunnin around the village and it was all thanks to Naruto.

The only downside of her constant feedings was that she had to do chakra control exercises to maintain her precise control. Luckily, she had Naruto's boundlessly enthusiastic company on those boring exercises. Her Inner made sure to assimilate that part of Naruto's psyche whenever she touched him. They were well past water walking and were now focusing on walking up waterfalls. She hoped their increase in skills would be enough.

"Hey, Naruto." She waved when he got close enough.

"Are you excited?" Naruto grinned at her and she smiled back. "Finally, I can leave the village and go on an adventure." Suddenly he lost his smile and sidled up to her to whisper, "I sent clones to the library to look up info on Wave and also begged the old man for intelligence reports from Wave.

Sakura patted him on the shoulder. She was happy that he remembered her mentioning that particular use of his shadow clones. "Nice, did Hokage-jiji give in?"

He nodded. "Only information classified 'B' level and below. He said Wave wasn't a…a…" He scrunched up his face to recall. "Strategic _something_ so he would let me see 'B' level info."

"You've got to do something about your memory, Naruto. What's the point of having shadow clones if you don't remember crap."

"Wah! Don't be mad, Sakura-chan, I'm trying."

"Try harder," she snapped. She couldn't wait to have reserves like his so she could do mass shadow clones. She only knew the version which produced one clone. She was afraid of trying the mass jutsu because of its chakra cost. "Oh, Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke-kun are close," she said noticing them via her hunter sense.

In a couple of minutes Kakashi ambled into view with Sasuke behind him. "Ah, I see you've met Tazuna-san already, our client," Kakashi said as he reached them.

The drunk man Sakura had noticed walked toward them with a scowl. "I asked for ninja, what's up with the brats?"

"Maa, don't worry, I'm a jounin and we're just protecting you from wild animals and bandits," Kakashi said.

"Even so, these are some weird kids. Why is that pink-haired boy wearing a skirt? Why does he have pink hair?" Tazuna demanded.

Sakura felt heat rise to her face and she leapt at the man. "I'm a woman, you perverted drunkard!" Her fist met his face and sent him straight through Konoha's main gate. Naruto howled in laughter at the dust cloud where the man had rolled to a stop.

"Sakura!" Kakashi snapped. "You don't hit a client." He hurried over to check on Tazuna.

Sasuke grinned and put a hand on Sakura shoulder. That effectively brought her out of her rage. Her crush was touching her! "Good job, Sakura," Sasuke said.

"Yeah, Sakura-chan." Naruto laughed, holding his stomach. "That was priceless. I can't wait to tell jiji."

And with that wonderful start they set out on their first C class mission.

(break)

Tazuna had a purple bruise forming on his face and was understandably sulking. Sakura didn't mind at all even though she had gotten reprimanded by Kakashi-sensei. It had been a few hours since they had started their painfully slow walk toward wave. At the least Naruto was being entertaining. What with the random blurting out of facts about Wave.

"And sometimes they eat snails. It's a delicacy. Gross," Naruto said. "Also, it's a big shipping port. Some big shot Gato has settled down there."

"That's nice," Sakura said only half listening.

"Oh there has been a noted increase in bandit activity along the cost," Naruto said happily. "How was that, Sakura-chan, I remembered it word for word?"

"Good job, Naruto. I guess we might have to fight bandits then," she said.

"Finally," Naruto agreed. "Oi, what're you choking on, old man?"

Sakura cast her eyes away from the road to look at the man's pale face. He did seem to have seen a ghost. She was about to question him too when she felt two chakra signatures ahead. They were too strong to be civilians but nowhere near Kakashi-sensei's level. As they walked around a turn in the road she saw the source of chakra. It was a puddle. Confused now, she wondered if her hunter sense was messing up.

She wanted to point it out to her sensei but that would give away her sensor ability. So she stayed quiet but wary. Naruto was skipping ahead and when he went by the puddle without issue she felt relieved. _It must be something I ate, _she thought morbidly. As she walked past it the hunter sense for food spiked. Chakra level of the puddle rose. With a gasp she whirled around to see her sensei butchered to pieces by a shuriken chain.

"Kakashi-sensei!" she screamed and her hunter sense roared _food, enemy_ at her. She had never known hunger like she knew it then. There were two Kiri nin running at her. They were saying something but she couldn't hear it over her hunger's keen of 'food, enemy.' In a shunshin she was upon one of the two. She didn't even know when she had taken off a glove. With one hand she shoved a kunai through the joint between the man's rebreather and neck. With her other bare hand she grabbed the shinobi's exposed skin around his eyes. "I'm going to eat you alive!" she growled.

The man gurgled, drowning in his own blood from the kunai she had stabbed in his throat. He was losing his life force to her hand faster than anything she had experienced before. She wanted to drain him and leave him a husk. There was noise behind her but she didn't pay attention. In the back of her mind she could feel Sasuke and Naruto battling the other Kiri nin. Naruto knew shunshin and the grand fireball jutsu, he had used the latter to destroy Team 10's training ground. She was certain he could hold off the scum until she was ready to eat him.

"Sakura, _Sakura_, you can let go. He's dead," Kakashi-sensei's voice broke through the fog of '_hunger, enemy, food, die'_ in her head.

"Kaka-sensei," she choked out. "You're ok?" She unclenched her hands holding the kunai and the Kiri-nin's face and hugged her sensei around the middle.

Kakashi-sensei patted her on her head. "Shh, it's alright, Sakura-chan. You did good."

"Why did you do that, Baka-sensei, I thought you'd died," Sakura sniffled in his vest. She wondered why she hadn't been able to sense him through her hunter sense. Usually she was able to.

"I'll kill you, you little bitch. I will hound you to Hell if I have to!" a voice screamed and broke into Sakura's moment with her sensei.

She stepped away from Kakashi-sensei and saw the other Kiri-nin wrapped in ninja wire and burned badly. It looked like Sasuke had gotten to him. The Sakura of only a few weeks ago would have cringed at the hate and killing intent coming from the man. But this Sakura still saw only food and an enemy. As she had learned in the last minute, if her hunter sense classified anyone under both of those categories, they were as good as dead. "You tried to kill my sensei. You're lucky my teammates got to you before I did. I'll be happy to slaughter you too."

"Ne, Sakura-chan, could you ease up on the KI?" Naruto said. She looked at him to find him sweating a little and giving her a nervous look. Sasuke nodded to her in respect.

"Sorry, Naruto, I…sorry," Sakura said and walked away, suddenly losing the edge that came on her with the hunger. She rested her back against a tree and watched dispassionately as Kakashi-sensei went about interrogating the Kiri-nin and Tazuna. Her body was shaking a little from the adrenaline rush. She couldn't believe she had drained a man to death. It was so surreal.

_So how's the haul, Inner?_

_Shut up and let me concentrate. I'm fighting this bastard's psyche. You just had to go and drain a Kiri-nin, known to be relentless._

_Shit, can you handle him? _Sakura asked, panicking.

_I'm the biggest bitch in this house, Outer. Don't ask stupid questions._

Sakura smiled to herself. Inner could be a pain but she wouldn't know how to live without her.

(Break)

It seemed that the drunkard had lied to them. Kakashi wanted to turn back but the boys were adamant about continuing. Sakura didn't much care for the liar but she recalled her mother's advice and asked to continue as well. Even though she had lost control for a moment, the chance of eating other enemy nin was too hard to ignore.

After all, she had three new skills added to her repertoire. She could now use a chain to fight, use the 'Hiding in Water' technique their enemies had used to hide in a puddle, and also make water clones. She wondered if Naruto would want to learn any of the water jutsu. She giggled at the thought of Naruto trying the hiding in water technique and creating a lake instead of a puddle.

"Shh, there's a reason we aren't using a motor on this boat to take you across," Tazuna's friend whispered angrily. He was the one taking them across the water to Wave.

Kakashi-sensei motioned her over. Sakura left her place at the front of the boat with the boys to move back to her sensei. He rested a hand on his shoulders and spoke quietly, "How are you holding up, Sakura-chan?"

"I'm good, sensei. Why?" she asked.

"You haven't reacted to your first kill. I was like you, you know. I kept my emotions in. Sometimes that's needed but if you need to puke or something…I'll hold your hair," he said with that damnable eye smile of his.

Sakura snorted. "I don't know if you're sweet or just hopeless, Kaka-sensei, but thanks." She sat down next to him and leaned a little on his shoulder. The man angled his orange book just so she couldn't read it. It made her a little suspicious but she had other things on her mind.

_Inner, why aren't we freaking out about our first kill?_

_I absorbed part of the Kiri-nin's psyche. Enough so that we don't lose it over killing enemies. He was pretty used to it,_ Inner explained.

_I don't want us to become used to it,_ Sakura said worriedly.

_Relax, this'll help us survive the mission. Or do you want to worry that you will have to kill again and oh no whatever will we do? _Inner said in a squeaky voice sounding helpless.

_Fine, I see your point, but…_

_Look, Outer, let's get through this mission. If we don't like ourselves after it, I'll rip this part out of our mind just like I did with the rest of him._

Sakura sighed and shut her eyes, deciding to nap against her sensei.

(break)

The earth under their feet was soggy and infirm, the air was humid and cold. The grey skies seemed to meld with dark green of the trees surrounding them. It was dreary yet familiar to Sakura. Another gift of the shinobi she had drained, she figured. The boys were a little more on edge. Sasuke's shoulders were tensed and Naruto had already made three shadow clones and sent them ahead to scout. Sakura was glad Naruto was putting in practice the possible uses they had discussed for his clones.

"Well, welcome to Wave," Tazuna said. No one said anything as they fell into formation around the man. Naruto's information about bandit activity hadn't panned out so far. But Sakura kept herself focused in case they popped out.

They walked in silence for half an hour when suddenly Naruto leapt back and clutched his throat. "Kaka-sensei, something just killed all of my clones," he reported taking out a kunai. Sasuke and Sakura followed his example.

"Did you see anything?" Kakashi asked, his posture straightening to alert.

"Only one clone saw a flash of black and then like all of them his neck was sliced," he said.

"How far ahead?" Kakashi asked.

"Ten minutes, I think," Naruto said.

"Alright, Naruto's clones and I will go ahead and engage the enemy. Sakura, Sasuke, go West of this location as fast as you can with Tazuna. Naruto keep up with them so your clones can report back what's happening. If I'm taken down, get back to Konoha and report. Otherwise, I will make my way to Tazuna's bridge. Get moving," he ordered.

Naruto made thirty clones that followed Kakashi as he disappeared into the trees. Sakura searched with her hunter sense but couldn't find anything. When she saw Sasuke glaring in the direction their disappeared sensei she called out to him, "Sasuke-kun, we have to go."

"Hmph, guess the dead-last was so pathetic in the last fight he's giving him a chance to make it up," Sasuke grumbled.

"Go to Hell, bastard, you're just pissed my fireball was bigger than yours," Naruto snapped.

Sakura tugged at Tazuna's arm and stepped off the path into the woods. "Tazuna-san, you know this place better than we do. Is there anything we should worry about in this direction?"

The man was pale and breathless from fear. "No, just a mile of forest and then a settlement. Maybe some wild animals."

Sakura nodded and set a brisk pace through the underbrush. She was hampered by roots and the civilian. Soon the boys realized she was leaving them behind. Sasuke ran up to overtake her and take point. Naruto sullenly brought up the rear.

They hadn't gone far when Naruto reported, "Kaka-sensei is fighting another Kiri-nin. He called him Demon of the Mist. Guy is a jounin and is using water clones. I got two with fireballs and one I got with shunshin. He killed twenty of them. The rest are hiding out of sight. Hey!" he shouted. "Kaka-sensei knows water clone jutsu too!"

"Keep quiet, you idiot," Sasuke turned and whisper-shouted at Naruto. He didn't see the senbon coming at him. They struck his neck and he crumpled to the ground.

For a heartbeat Sakura froze. She was forcibly reminded of the genin test Kakashi-sensei had put her through. The memory jolted her to move. She grabbed Tazuna and body-flickered five feet to the side. Senbon struck where she had been standing. The woods erupted in orange as Naruto filled their surroundings with his clones.

"Show yourself, you bastard!" he shouted.

"How did the enemy hide from my sense?" Sakura wondered while keeping her eyes peeled for their attacker. Her hunger told her that Sasuke was alive, even if his life force was only a whisper. It wasn't ebbing so she decided he was fine for the moment. Naruto's clones were jumping from tree to tree, throwing grand fireballs like they were E-rank jutsu. Sakura could tell he was working systematically outwards in a cone from their location to flush out the enemy.

"Girl, shouldn't we be running?" Tazuna asked.

Sakura looked at him in unhidden disgust. She ran through hand seals to make two water clones. "Get him out of here. Keep going in that direction. I'm going to help Naruto." Her clones nodded and disappeared with the old man in a flicker.

"Naruto! Do you have anything yet?" she asked a clone nearest her.

The clone pointed. "Several of us were killed over there. Guy looks our age, he's wearing a white mask. Moves fast but we're using body-flicker to keep him away."

Sakura bared her teeth behind her red mask. "Let's go eat him!"

"Yeah…sure, whatever you say, Sakura-chan," the clone said and ran next to her.

Sakura deliberately let go of her tenuous mental control on her hunger. At once she heard its keen. Her mind flooded with knowledge of food around her. Naruto's clones were everywhere and it was hard to ignore the orange bounty. But she was by now intimately familiar with his life force and could focus on the one that was difference.

She bounded from tree bough to tree bough. At times falling to the forest floor so she could flicker ahead quickly. Her hunger guided her to the powerful life force that was attacking Naruto. She dropped her gloves and they were picked up by a considerate Naruto clone. Her mind was too focused on her prey.

A leap brought her into the thick of fighting. Like Naruto had described a shinobi with a Kiri Hunter-nin mask was on a tree, throwing senbon at his clones. The boy seemed to float from clone to clone, destroying them with taijutsu or senbon. Naruto clones were keeping him corralled within a circle of four trees. Anytime the boy tried to leave he was met by a wall of fireballs from the clones. Naruto himself was using body flicker to strike and run because the enemies in-close skills outpaced his.

Sakura, blinded by her hunger, rushed the Kiri-nin. The enemy made and single hand seal and then spread his hands apart as if pushing away something to the sides. "Ice needles!" he shouted. A storm of senbon made from ice burst from him like a wave. Sakura wasn't quick enough to use a replacement technique. The senbon ripped into her exposed arms that she raised to protect her face. They struck flesh where ever she wasn't covered by heavy leather and metal guards. She fell to the ground while screaming.

The majority of Naruto's clones were killed in by the ice senbon attack. The few that remained were quickly taken out by the Hunter-nin. Naruto didn't have the benefit of Sakura's armor. He was left kneeling in a pool of his own blood. His body was strewn with ice needles. His eyes were open in disbelief but not a sound escaped him.

"You are truly a powerful shinobi. That attack should have killed you," the Hunter-nin said in a soft voice after appearing between Naruto and Sakura.

"You tried to kill Sakura-chan," Naruto mumbled, hearing Sakura's whimpers.

"I will drain you dry," Sakura gasped as she pulled out needles from her body.

"And you," the Hunter-nin said looking at Sakura. "You were very fast. It's unfortunate you met me, otherwise you would've been able to survive. I'm amazed both of you are still conscious but surely you will die soon, Kunoichi-san."

A red light bubbled out of Naruto skin. It melted the ice needles. It was enough to distract the Hunter-nin. The sensation of rage and hate coming from Naruto frightened the Kiri-nin to his core. He entirely missed the killing intent behind him. Naruto jumped from a kneeling position at the enemy shinobi, his hands covered in red chakra claws. The Kiri-nin leapt back, straight into Sakura's waiting arms. If the nin hadn't dismissed Sakura as a threat in presence of Naruto's demonic killing intent he would never have made such a simple mistake.

Sakura wrapped her arms around the nin from behind. She tore off the mask he was wearing to reach skin. The nin grabbed her arms with incredible strength to throw her off. But his few seconds of attention away from Naruto were his loss. Naruto's claws ripped into his stomach. The Hunter-nin who looked no older than them than a few years made a strangled gasp. Between the wound and Sakura's hands digging into his face, his life force started rushing out of him.

Sakura drained the boy without remorse. Satisfying hunger was her only priority. It was an uncomplicated meal. The boy was an enemy nin and she couldn't wait to use that ice needle attack he had almost killed Naruto and her with. If it hadn't been the Uzumaki stubborn life force in her she was sure she would be worse off than Sasuke.

As her hunger began to abate her senses picked up a very different chakra presence. It made her wary, her senses recoiled, as if they had tasted something bitter and poisonous. Naruto was covered in some sort of red chakra. His eyes were distant as if he was seeing something else. "Kakashi-sensei!" he shouted and disappeared in a shunshin faster than she had ever seen him perform. It was like he was a red blur.

_His clones must have seen that Kaka-sensei is in trouble, _Inner said. _Hurry up, Outer. You're the protégé, it's your job to save sensei._

"I'm eating and he's dying fast. Chill," Sakura said out loud, seeing she was by herself. "The absorption rate keeps getting faster and faster. I hope we get everything out of this bastard. Wish Naruto hadn't disemboweled him."

_You're lucky that Naruto did, Haku-kun here could've thrown you off easily. His psyche isn't much, I can handle it in my sleep._

Haku's face in her hands became papery white and within seconds his cheeks sank until he looked like he had lost half his weight. Sakura couldn't feel anymore life force. She stood up and felt corded muscles in her arms and legs. Her body felt stronger like nothing before. She thought of going to Sasuke and the words 'Temporary death' appeared in her mind. She made a shadow clone and ordered it to go help Sasuke and find Tazuna. It had only been a minute since Naruto had left but in a shinobi battle that was an eternity. She hoped Kakashi-sensei and Naruto were alright as she ran to them.

(Break)

Sakura followed the path they had left, abusing the shunshin for all its worth to save time. She came upon a small beach which was torn up from battle. Kakashi-sensei was kneeling next to an unmoving ninja on the ground. Naruto was a little ways away slumped against a tree. The poisonous red chakra was missing to Sakura's relief. She walked up to the body. A slash across the Kiri headband told her that the man had been a missing nin. He had claw marks running across his body. Ten deep trails of burned and torn flesh were evidence of where Naruto had attacked the man.

Kakashi-sensei closed the dead man's eyelids. All Sakura felt was disappointment at having missed out on draining a jounin. The thought disturbed her. She should be worrying about her team! Her hunter sense showed that Kakashi-sensei was dangerously low on chakra. She jogged up to him and fished out a soldier pill.

"Ah, thank you, Sakura-chan," her sensei said after popping the pill in his mouth so fast she missed him taking off his mask.

"Naruto, are you alright?" Sakura called as she walked up to him. Naruto was staring fixedly at the dead nin's body. She realized this was his first kill. At least his first independent kill. A normal person would find this traumatic. She squeezed his shoulders, making sure she only touched places covered by his clothes. "You protected Kakashi-sensei, kicked ass, huh?" she said weakly, hoping it cheered him up.

He gave her a wan smile. "You're right, I did, didn't I?"

"Sakura, Naruto, where are Sasuke and Tazuna?" Kakashi-sensei asked.

"Oh no, Sasuke!" Naruto jumped up, reminded of his injured comrade.

"My clone is going to bring them to the bridge. Sasuke was put in a false death state by a Kiri Hunter-nin," Sakura explained. "Are you feeling alright, Kaka-sensei?"

Kakashi-sense gave them an eye smile. "I'm doing great, Sakura-chan. That pill saved me from the brink of passing out because of chakra exhaustion. I would've been out of commission for a week at least."

"I'm feeling a little tired, can I get one too, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked with a greedy grin.

Laughing a little at his antics she chucked him one. She was willing to do anything to take away that worried look from his eyes. "I guess we should go to the bridge."

"Not before you are bandaged, Sakura. You're bleeding from a lot of senbon wounds," Kakashi-sensei said.

When she saw him reach for his first aid kit she hurriedly pulled Naruto's arm. "You do it, Naruto. You need the practice." Seeing Kakashi-sensei shoot her a quizzical look, she hurriedly added, "Kaka-sensei can make sure you're doing it right."

Naruto, never to say no to his one true love, readily agreed. Sakura resigned herself to Naruto's not so tender mercies. It was better than Kakashi-sensei touching her skin and finding out her powers.

"Where are your gloves and arm guards, Sakura?" Kakashi-sensei asked.

"One of my clones has them, he's with Sasuke and Tazuna," Naruto reported.

"And why does _he_ have them when Sakura should be wearing them for protection?" Kakashi-sensei asked affecting his casual slouch.

"Um, just lost them in the fight, sensei," Sakura said, praying internally that he would buy that excuse. Then realized she had mentioned her 'clone' bringing Sasuke, Kakashi-sensei would want to know how she learned. Which would mean telling him Naruto taught her. That could lead to all sorts of other questions.

"Hmm, hmm." Kakashi-sensei nodded. "I once lost my pants in a fight. I understand, Sakura-chan. Just be happy, it could've been worse."

He was rewarded with two looks of disbelief but simply smiled and took out his book.

**(End)**

A.N. Ok, so Kakashi is obviously catching on to things. I wanted to write his confrontation with Sakura this chapter but I didn't want to force it. I need a whole chapter to set up and do that part.

So you're seeing the affect of a brainiac like Sakura on Naruto's training and tactics. Her guilt about using him is leading her to help in any way she can. Which goes hand in hand with the ulterior motive of her parents to make Naruto strong so he's always available for their daughter to feed on.


End file.
